//------------------------------// // Home // Story: We Remember Everything // by Thunderscourge //------------------------------// A/N: Special thanks to Evowizard25, King Sombrony, Cadmium, Sarikano (even if it wasn't at all about the chapter), New Spark, Killabyte, and Drgnwolf for your comments last chapter! Your support means a great deal to me and it is what keeps me writing so much so quickly. Case and point, this chapter is now the longest chapter. Screw last chapter being the longest, this one is now. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know your thoughts in the comments below! It was with almost no sleep that Luna greeted Loki the next morning. Or afternoon. She had no clock to keep track of time, and her own internal clock for the shifting of Equestria’s day and night held no water on this different world that operated without beings like her and Celestia. As his eyes fluttered and adjusted to the dim room Luna brought a hand over his chest. His heart was racing, befitting of the dreams she had been privy to that night. His guard had been down and he had not noticed her presence…not that he likely would have noticed her outside of the brutal and wicked imagery shown there. Whatever Loki was basing his dream off of, it was no haven for his mind. Given his general aversion to her interrupting his dreams, Luna had let them be. Furthermore, Loki was not present in them as he was previously and there was nothing for her to truly confront with his physical absence in the abstract realm. Torture was going through his mind as if that was the norm. Had this been what he had been enduring these past days? “Loki, are you okay?” He did a good job feigning ignorance as he turned underneath his sheets to face her, “Never felt better. I will admit I am a bit worn out from last night’s proceedings.” Knowing that he would only push back if she pressured him, Luna decided to leave the issue for another day and joined in on his ignorance, “Last night? I thought it was this morning?” He snickered as he brought a hand to her cheerk, “Very clever.” With a last nod to what kept her up throughout the night, Luna moved her hand so that it covered his, “Loki, you know I am here for you if you need me.” His façade was strong, with the prince even smiling at her, “I am fine. No need to worry on my behalf now that my mind is my own.” Content, Luna leaned forward to kiss him. “Another?” she questioned jokingly, both knowing what the response would be and enjoying the reference to Asgardian tradition. Loki’s mouth opened to respond underneath her lips, only for knocking on the door to halt them. Luna was less than pleased as she called to whomever was knocking, “Who is it?” A voice she did not recognize, likely some random guard of the castle, responded through the closed and locked door, “Sir Heimdall has requested your presence, milady.” Luna shifted to the side of the bed so she could rise, Loki instead stretching out and groaning, “What could that boring man possibly want?” Luna pursed her lips as she stood up, “It might have something to do with Equestria. I have a duty to hear what he has to say.” Loki covered his face with his hands as he thought over the house arrest he was currently under, “Fine, I will be here with a fine book until you return. I have a good deal to catch up on after all, and all the time in the world to do it.” “I will be back for you later, okay?” Luna reassured him as she approached the door. A thought crossed Loki’s mind and a quick peek revealed to him that he was indeed correct. It took him long enough to get over how she walked around as a horse, but as a humanoid it was a whole new matter. “Luna, forgetting something?” The princess thought for a moment about what she could possibly be missing, only to remember with a quick glance down. Humanoids wore clothes normally, which she was most definitely not. Heimdall stood at his post once more when Luna came to confront him, overlooking the parts of the Bifrost still under construction. Or rather, staring in that direction as he overlooked all of Asgard with his special sight granted to him as Gatekeeper. He did not need to turn to know that Luna had just arrived behind him. “I see that you are finally awake.” Luna shrugged, considering her odd waking hour fine for everything she got out of it, “I am normally nocturnal, but recent events have thrown off my sleep patterns. So, what did you summon me for?” Heimdall turned around to face her, his golden eyes meeting her own easily due to their shared height, “A meeting with the Allfather has brought to his attention that your realm requires you to assist in its reparations. I do not wish to cut your stay short-“ She sighed as she tried to work out in her head just how many days she had been gone, “I understand. My duties must come first.” He glanced over his shoulder at the work being done on the realm’s one regular form of transportation, “Our work on the Bifrost will be finished in the coming months. When it is, I will be in contact with you and return you at your convenience.” Luna gave a small bow of respect to the man for his service and offer, “Thank you for your assistance. I suppose I should see the Allfather to return?” “You would be correct.” She turned around on her heel and waved, “Farewell Heimdall, and see you sooner rather than later, okay?” He too turned around, ready to resume his everlasting duty, “Farewell. I will do my best to keep Loki in line during your absence, although I believe you have a greater arsenal to keep him stable than I.” She could not see it, but the stoic man smirked as she began laughing at his subtle humor. Even a Gatekeeper could have some humor. The front gates of the castle happened to not be empty outside of the regularly posted guards, as two men sat atop them when Luna approached the castle. One was a slim man with blonde hair and a dashing goatee while the other had a mane of red hair and another growing from his chin in a large beard that matched his girth. Fandral and Volstagg were waiting for her. The slimmer man stood up to greet the princess with open arms, “Going somewhere, milady?” Luna accepted the hug, if only as one of farewell, “I just found out that I may return to my home, and that it needs my assistance at the moment. I apologize that I can not stay longer.” Volstagg rose as well, albeit with a big grin on his face that would not be ill fit on Pinkie Pie, “What can a couple hours more hurt? We were hoping that you would accompany us to the sparring grounds.” That rose her brow, not at all having expected it, “To fight?” Further inspection revealed both men to be wearing their full combat gear, with Volstagg having plate armor covering him while Fandral was covered in what appeared to be protective leather mixed with regal clothing. Quite befitting of two warriors, as well as a womanizer in the second case. Luna could not remember what the two had been wearing the night before, but the outfits seemed familiar. Did they normally wear their combat clothing? Fandral turned to Volstagg and rose his own eyebrows, “That is generally what a sparring ground is for, correct me if I am wrong,” he turned back to Luna just in time to catch her rolling her eyes, “You see, all of Asgard is interested in you now that the rumor mills are spreading tales of the foreigner princess stood up to the Allfather.” Volstagg stuck a thumb out at his smaller companion, “Fandral here did not help the matter any when he spoke to his lady friends about it, quite exaggeratedly I might add.” The womanizer acted in fake hurt at his friend’s accusation, “Exaggeration is our art, my friend, but that is beside the point. From what I have gathered, about half of us are outraged, while the rest are impressed that you humiliated our guards so greatly.” Luna was still unconvinced, “And this all means?” Fandral moved to her side and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer so he could whisper, “I have gathered some influential nobles at the sparring arena. Seeing you demonstrate those skills you used to best our guardsmen will no doubt impress them, and quite possibly help boost public opinion of you.” A selfish thought crossed Luna’s mind, that being that Celestia really ought to have tried something like this back a thousand years ago. Maybe not the same exact thing, but anything at all to help improve the reputation of her ‘dear’ sister would have been nice of the elder sibling to do… “Who will I be fighting?” Luna questioned, unsure about what she might be signing on for. Volstagg moved to Luna’s other side and wrapped an arm of his own around the lanky woman, “Us of course! The Warriors Three are second to none outside the royal family, I will have you know. You’re not the only one who could take on a slew of guards and humiliate them.” Fandral whispered to counteract his boisterous comrade, “Now I don’t know how good you are at regular combat, but you cannot use magic to defeat us. Doing so will only make the others believe you are some wretch who can not win in a fair fight.” Volstagg realized his error in this little scheme and quieted his own voice, “And, just in case, we won’t be giving it our all. You can’t be all that used to fighting in that body just yet, and we do want to let you make a good first impression here.” They…wanted to help her. Luna was a bit dumbfounded. Only Twilight and her friends had ever extended her this feeling in Equestria, and only a couple of others on Midgard had been friendly to her off the bat… “I…I don’t know what to say. Why do you two want to help me so much?” Fandral urged her up the steps and towards the castle’s front doors, “Lady Sif and the Warriors Three are currently divided over the issue of Loki, which you are an extension of. Volstagg and I would have him show that he is still the lovable trickster we all knew, while Hogun and Sif remain skeptical. Thor assures me that we are the right ones, but I will not give Loki any fuel to possibly turn rotten again.” Volstagg kept in step with them, his smile still large on his face, “So that means we don’t want him getting angry about some of our land being mad at you. Help you, and we can help Loki. Not to mention that you seem quite the lady yourself.” That phrasing amused Luna, who only partly considered herself one, “You have not fought me yet. I would hold off on calling me lady. No magic, correct?” “Right. Good ol’ training weapons, should you choose to use them. Fists are fine too.” With a look down to the dress she had conjured that morning, Luna smirked. This actually might be fun, and helpful. “I think I should change into something more fitting for combat.” “Come one, come all, and witness the battle of your lifetime! The Warriors Three will be combating the beautiful princess Luna of the newly discovered realm, Equestria!” Fandral had gathered quite the crowd around the sparring grounds he had mentioned, a wide open space surrounded by extensions of the castle. With no roof, the ground revealed the beautiful sun above that reminded Luna quite greatly of her sister and her royal flank. The crowd gathered had been in some wonder and confusion about who this woman in indigo and black armor was. The purple sigil with a white moon in the middle on her breastplate was of no house they knew of, and her long and flowing blue hair was quite unfamiliar to most of them as well. Some, however, easily recognized her as the one who had greeted Loki at his welcoming feast the night prior, as well as the one who left with him after its processions. She had not been wearing this ornate armor the night before however, and even those that had seen her were confused as to how she had managed to have a personally colored set of their own type of armor fitted to her so quickly. None would assume magic and conjured clothing as the reason. The biggest question on the gathered crowd’s mind was how this woman thought she could face the Warriors Three and even compete. After all, she was not Sif, who had proved to be an exception to their male-warrior culture. From his position in the center of it all, the crowd being gathered around the edge of the ground, Fandral continued his announcements. “Now the rules are simple. Our lady here will be fighting each of us in a fair one on one match, starting with my good friend Volstagg here,” he gestured to the bulky man, who stood beside the silent Hogun who had to be dragged there to join the proceedings, “Training weapons only, so as to not scar any of our delicate faces. This is for fun after all! After him will be me, and then our dear Hogun the grim.” He winked at Luna who then lifted the indigo helmet, conjured to resemble her Nightmare Moon one, in her hand to her head. In full armor Fandral had to admit the giant woman appeared quite fierce, only a horizontal slit visible of her face underneath the helmet revealing her blue-green eyes. “Now, let me clear out of the way as our contestants in this little ‘bout choose their weapons. Good luck to all, and have fun!” Fandral stepped away and towards the crowd so that they could have their room. Volstagg moved towards the pile of training weapons brought for the event and removed from it a wooden axe made for fake combat. It had been some time since he used such a fake weapon, but its almost weightless feeling meant he could swing it fast and gave him a good feeling. This feeling left him when Luna did not move to even take a weapon, just standing there in her armor. He could not read her expression with her helmet on, which only unnerved him more. “Are both participants ready?” Volstagg nodded and moved to the middle of the twenty meter by twenty meter green made for practices just like this, Luna reciprocating and doing the same with a smirk underneath her helmet. Still unnerved, but attempting to hide it with a smile, Volstagg leaned towards her and whispered, “Please don’t make me look that bad. My family is watching.” A quick look to the side revealed a portly woman who did not appear to be of the nobility like the others gathered, some children gathered around her that Luna assumed to Volstagg’s children. She was interacting with three, but Luna could not be sure if the many that also were near them were of any connection. A family man it seems. Luna’s smirk relaxed as she thought about how to do this without humiliating him, even without her magic. Luna nodded to him, “Let’s give them a good show then.” Fandral pumped a fist into the air, “Then let the fight begin!” Volstagg swung the lightweight contraption in his hands straight at Luna, the speed at which made it an almost impossible strike to avoid. Unfortunately for him, Luna had the speed of her original form and was already behind him by the time his strike would have hit her. Volstagg quickly recovered and brought the axe around full circle in an arc, only for Luna to lift her arm and block the strike. The impact actually surprised Luna, who was knocked stumbling back a few feet from it. The axe, however, given the force of Volstagg crashing into Luna’s armor cracked partially. With a glance at the now semi-broken weapon, Volstagg had to admit he was impressed. That strike could have knocked many an Asgardian off their feet, which meant that this woman was no regular one. He laughed as Luna recovered from the strike and resumed a fighting stance, “You are strong for a lady.” He charged again and swung downward this time, this time contacting the ground with it. With this second strike the abused weapon broke under his strength and snapped in two, Luna not having been the one struck this time. Volstagg realized with some realization that he was not going all out, but was not exactly taking it easy on this lady. And he had no idea where she had moved to with her equine granted speed. “Tell me, have you ever had a horse kick you?” The man twisted around to find Luna, only to have Luna’s legs connect with his gut and knock him not only off his feet but into the air and back a good ten feet. Luna was enjoying the unnoticeable magic of her Nightmare Moon form, that of shifting through shadows, which mixed with her speed made it appear that she was not doing anything out of the ordinary except moving quickly. It was something small, and given her unfamiliarity with hand to hand combat she was not about to confront such warriors without an edge to fall back on. It was with this that she appeared behind Volstagg and planted both feet in his body when he missed. The crowd was impressed by the strike knocking the large man such a distance, especially while wearing plate armor, and even Fandral found himself rooting for the newcomer over his friend for a moment, “What a powerful kick! If Volstagg were not one of Asgard’s finest I have no doubt we would be dragging him to the healing chambers.” Volstagg, to his credit, recovered quickly and picked himself off the ground. The front of his armor had two large dents where Luna’s feet had connected, and a small amount of blood dribbled down his chin that he wiped away quickly. “Good one. Now it’s my turn!” Volstagg rushed forward, expecting Luna to dodge him again, and prepared to tackle her with his body. To mix things up, Luna instead prepared to grab him. Just as Volstagg reached her, Luna crouched down and let him collide with one of her shoulders. Her armor softened the blow, but the impact still hurt her greatly. The effect, however, was worth it as his weight was thrown off balance by this. Luna used his momentum to grab his body and flip the large man over her and let him slam down on his back under his own weight and power. After a moment Luna turned and approached the downed man, whose head was spinning too greatly to actually rise on his own. She felt bad about the slightly underhanded tactics she was using, but this was not about the actual fighting. This was about making the people think she was an impressive warrior. She held a hand out to him, “Good fight.” He took it and laughed as she helped him to his feet, “That it was! I’ll admit I am impressed. We have to do this again when you visit again, and I won’t be falling for your little tricks then.” His attention was swept up in the kids that rushed to his side, and he quickly embraced them as they did so. Luna felt herself smiling at the man and his family as they had a moment before leading him off to the side. Fandral found himself laughing at the proceedings, quite impressed that Luna could counter Volstagg’s weight despite her own skinny frame, “And he is down for the count! Who fought an untrained lady could battle so well?” “She’s not the first.” Fandral turned to the bitter voice in the crowd and pointed to the warrior lady it originated from, “I did say untrained, Lady Sif. Now, I suppose it is I who must face our challenger next. Wish me luck!” The pretty boy grabbed a training sword from the assortment nearby and approached Luna as she watched Volstagg reunite with his family. “Please don’t harm the face unnecessarily,” Fandral joked to Luna, who only smirked again underneath her helmet. “Define unnecessarily.” He lifted a hand up into the air, “And so the fight begins!” With the sword in his hand he began to twirl it around and do fancy tricks Luna paid absolutely no attention to as he boasted, “Now, I won’t be going easy on you-” His voice was cut off by a swift punch to the bridge of his nose. Even Luna knew how to strike someone, and Fandral instantly began regretting his bravado. “I’m sorry, what?” Luna joked as he wiped blood from his now broken nose. He recovered and prepared to strike her, “Well, let’s see how you feel about this!” His swing was interrupted by her fist punching the blade and snapping the thin and dull steel of his rapier. Fandral looked down at his now very short sword and sighed, “Oh dear, right. Horse goddess. Should have expected something like that.” Luna stifled a giggle as he tossed his sword to the side and gave a bow, the man having no physical way of hurting her, “And that’s where I must forfeit. Would not want to leave the ladies of the land to their lonesome selves.” “It was a valiant effort,” she joked, despite how untrue that statement was. Volstagg could combat her on some level due to his brute strength, but the finesse of a swordsman was wasted on someone powerful enough to snap the weapon in two. “I thank you,” he bowed and waved for the last of the trio to join Luna, “Hogun, you’re up!” As Fandral left the field Luna caught sight of something interesting in the hands of the last warrior. He was not holding a sparring weapon, but rather a regular mace that one might find on a battlefield. The warrior was wearing armor that appeared like a scaled down version of Volstagg’s, sacrificing some defense for speed and finesse. Luna actually was concerned this may be a challenge given the man’s grim expression. “I do not practice with toys,” Hogun explained to Luna, although the venom in her voice made her question whether this applied to everyone or just those associated with Loki. Luna studied the man briefly and noticed that he appeared to have different features than the majority of Asgardians. While his skin was not a much darker shade like Heimdall, his face had narrower eyes. Was this how humanoids had different races in comparison to Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns? The princess nodded to him, still making no move to take a weapon of her own, “Very well, if that’s how you are going to be.” Neither were listening as Fandral signaled for the next round to start in-between curses about his broken nose, both instead just pacing around and inspecting the other. “The rules state that we use regular sparring tools. Too afraid to face me with a toy?” Luna taunted the warrior, hoping to provoke him. Having been about to strike anyways, Hogun channeled the irritation he felt at her barbed words into the swing of his mace. Luna used the same speed and magic she had with Volstagg to dodge it without appearing to be using the latter, now behind him. Hogun twisted around with a fake-out attack, only to then turn back again to where he first hit in anticipation of Luna shifting space. His attack caught her in the gut and actually winded her, the strength of those in this realm being something to marvel at. Hogun did not let the momentary advantage go to waste and quickly brought his elbow down on the head of the bent over Luna. The strike hit, but she never hit the ground and instead appeared a dozen feet away. The last of the Warriors Three turned slowly to Luna as she regained her breath, knowing that acting rashly like Volstagg or with gusto like Fandral he could not beat this powerful being. She would not make that mistake again, “I at least do not need magic to win my battles for me.” Luna gave a pained laugh at the mention of magic, realizing that he must have seen through that one at least, “You were the one to break the rules. I will stop the moment you place that weapon down.” Hogun did not oblige, instead drawing and throwing a blade from his belt at Luna. The Princess would avoid it if it would not pass by her and hit someone in the crowd, instead being forced into blocking it and standing her ground. The blade harmlessly bounced off her armor, but gave Hogun the time he needed to strike at her again. Either he would have struck a crowd member and she would be seen as a coward, or she would stand still and give him the opportunity to strike at her. No matter what she did she would be helping his cause. Luna disappeared in a black cloud and reappeared at a decidedly random place elsewhere so that he could not again strike her. This time Luna decided to branch out her talents and focus on something she had Loki teach her, something that required concentration she had been in short supply of recently. Hogun watched as two more Lunas appeared beside the original, her illusions quickly swapping places with the original and eachother to confuse him. The warrior groaned as he watched his chances slip away. “Trickery.” Luna had all three illusions smile and speak, “You learn a bit from being around Loki.” Lining up all three, Luna had them all charge at him single file. He could not swipe at them to find out this way, and lunging forward would leave him wide open for an attack. Not that it mattered, because she utilized her teleportation to appear beside him and strike him across the face as he prepared for her initial charge. Who could fault someone for playing dirty in self defense? To her surprise, Luna could hear some cheers from the crowd. Their origin appeared to be from where Volstagg’s family stood, but more could be heard from elsewhere. Hogun had broken the rules of the fight, and he was being paid back in kind. Invigorated by the positive reaction, Luna followed up her first strike with a kick swinging at his gut. The strike acted as revenge for Hogun’s first, as it knocked the wind out of him. It did not stun him, however, and the warrior quickly swung his mace up to connect with Luna’s chin. Not having expected a strike of any sorts, Luna’s brief arrogance caught up to her and her head tilted back from the impact. Hogun used this time to stand up fully and bring the mace across Luna’s face, only for it to strike through a dark mist instead. Luna reappeared behind him and quickly summoned a real weapon to herself, quickly jamming the base of it’s golden shaft into his spine. The strike made Hogun seethe in pain as he fell to his knees, not ready to give up yet but in a great deal of pain. However, he never had the chance to take action. “Stop this at once!” Standing in a now parted place amongst the crowd was the short but powerful Allfather, whose features revealed that he was not at all pleased. All present fell silent and bowed to him, many having not noticed his presence up until he spoke. Luna too found herself bowing when her opponent did so, following his lead in the matter. She removed her helmet to reveal her face to him, her hair now a bigger mess than it was when she had woken up due to the helmet. It is what she would expect from her own subjects, after all, but customs were not always the same as demonstrated by some cup smashing the night prior. Odin approached Luna and stood before her with a grim look on his face. Then looking to Fandral and Volstagg, who were both bowing politely as well, he found a small grin growing on his features. “Princess Luna of Equestria, I admire your fighting prowess. It helps soothe my nerves that my men were not humiliated by a low class fighter,” he turned to Hogun instead as he continued, “Although I draw the line at having one of my men draw their true weapon on you. You are our guest.” Luna kept her head bowed, “It is no trouble milord.” Her response intrigued the Allfather, who turned back to her with a grin, “Am I to assume that this is because you could have beaten him without the restraint on your true talent?” Seeing the perfect opportunity to shame her last foe, Luna continued, “Yes, milord.” It was true. She had only been using a piece of her magical talent, something she doubted this soldier had. Odin placed a hand on her armored shoulder and laughed, “I would be lying if I did not say I believed you,” he looked up and rose his voice, “Leave us, and know that this woman is to be treated with the utmost respect. Even I need to be reminded of my fallibility at times, especially when I make grievous errors.” The crowd all began to mill out, leaving only Fandral and Volstagg who had stayed behind to tell their new friend farewell. Even Hogun had slipped away, as did Lady Sif, neither of whom were pleased by how Loki’s chosen lover was not someone to be trifled with. Fandral gave a half bow to his king and then to Luna, “Good day sir, and farewell Luna. Safe travels.” Volstagg waved from where his family was gathered, still happy despite his loss, “Do come and visit again! I am sure my daughters can learn a thing or two from you about being strong, assertive women!” Luna waved to them both and found herself with quite the genuine smile on her face. It was nice meeting two simple and kind men like them, “I will. Thank you for your companionship.” As they too left Odin let himself catch the smile bug, “They are impressive warriors, but their hearts lay elsewhere.” Luna turned from the leaving men to her lover’s father, “Food and noblewomen, it would appear. I would prefer a nice womanizer and a hearty glutton over a fierce warrior any day.” To her surprise Odin nodded in agreement, speaking in a tone much more lighthearted than she thought him capable of, “Something we can agree on. The realms are moving ever closer to constant peace, when warriors will be all but a last resort rather than a constant force we need.” Luna sighed at the mention of conflict, eyes falling down to the broken axe Volstagg had used, “My land knows no true war. We have many who have regular lives not at all effected by war, but we do have the occasional invader who is defeated by nightfall by our champions.” Odin too looked to the broken tool with his one eye, “I would be most interested in reading and learning the history of your kind. I have been working towards a less bellicose approach in my ruling, as compared to the constant warfare my father and his father thrived from.” Luna shifted her gaze from the axe to Odin. Her face had a smirk on to match the idea she had, “I would be more than willing to lend you our historical documents, under a condition.” “That being?” Odin was quite curious to see if she would made any ridiculous claims. Luna’s eyes fell back to the practice blade, “Prior to now our realms had no contact. Loki arriving on my world brought attention to it that previously did not exist, unbeknownst to him. My society cannot confront the threat that took Loki from us both, and should it come to our door we would be left defenseless I fear.” Odin brought a hand to his white bearded chin and thought momentarily on the issue. After speaking more with Thor and Frigga he had no agenda against this woman or her people, knowing her actions to be a result of her care for Loki that he himself had lost somewhere along this trying journey. After consideration, the Allfather nodded to her, “Asgard protects all realms it allies with, and I would be wrong to turn down a potential ally in these trying times. Your land will be protected, especially considering your relationship with my son. Should you two marry we could have this bond be sealed through blood.” Luna was regretting that she was not still wearing her helmet, as it would have prevented her blush from showing, “He and I have not been together that long.” Odin sniggered, “I knew Frigga for less than a month before I wed her. I was a boy then, and my actions were not all too dissimilar to your friend Fandral’s. I tried to woo her, and instead of her swooning for me because of my heritage I found myself in the healing chamber.” The princess found herself honestly impressed, “Wait, she put you there?” “Yes, in fact after she finished with me she was the one to bring me there. She did not care that I was prince, she only cared that I dishonored her with my vulgar behavior,” he let out a chuckle and sigh as he remembered those thousands of years ago, “We wed not long after.” Luna rose a blue eyebrow, “Love at first strike?” To her surprise Odin nodded, “I have not incurred her wrath to that degree since, but I have always feared it,” he looked over the indigo and black armor on Luna’s form and admired its design, “I see much of her in you. I can see why Loki would be so smitten.” His words hit an insecurity Luna had been holding close to her heart, “To be truthful, I am the one smitten. Loki is the very first relationship I have had because of a vow my sister and I took years ago,” her eyes closed as she tried to finish stating her fear, “I fear though that…” Odin placed a hand on her shoulder again despite their height difference, “His feelings are true, if muddled in his current state. His first action upon being released was to inquire about your condition.” Thinking about how most kingdoms she had encountered worked with fusing families, Luna found something that she had an issue with, “In order to make this ‘partnership’ official, would I by chance have to live here?” The Allfather shook his head, “I would not make you leave your kingdom. What you desire to do is up to you and Loki, but after speaking to Frigga I believe this to be the most beneficial action to all parties.” Luna felt her blush creeping on again, for the idea of marrying Loki was both a great and frightening prospect, “I will speak to Loki about it in the near future. No need to rush.” Odin found himself laughing again, remembering how he was the one who earlier said to Frigga that they should not pressure them, “You would be correct. I have tried many times over many years to find suitable wives for my sons, but they both are too unruly. Too oblivious to the heart. You would be doing me a great favor in taming him.” Luna did not feel that she could meet the smaller man’s gaze, instead embarrassed about her own previous behavior now that his own head had cooled off, “I thank you, Allfather. I apologize for my previous actions…I know not what I was thinking.” “I was a threat to a loved one. You did nothing that my own wife would not have. She was a few feet away under an invisibility spell waiting for you to take action. When you backed down, so did she.” Luna could sense the pride in his voice as he said that. Luna was instead both impressed at Frigga’s capabilities and a bit frightened that she did not notice the threat to her own self. The queen must have only pretended to actually leave using her illusions or something along those lines to have pulled it off. “Any way I can make amends though?” Luna questioned, hoping to find some way to Odin sighed and crossed his hands behind his back, “Yes, there is. Go to your land and help repair the damage done there. Thor will be doing the same with the realms we have lost contact with in recent times as soon as we finish the Bifrost.” Being away from Loki for an extended period of time, especially given the state he had been in the past few days, made Luna uneasy, “Heimdall said it would be done in the near future. Is that true?” The Allfather could read the worry on her face and tried his best to comfort her, “It will be weeks if everything goes well. Having Loki’s arcane knowledge should help with its reconstruction. For now I can use my own powers to return you home, though it will be quite taxing on us both. Dark energy is nothing to be trifled with.” Luna knew firsthand the truth in that, albeit a different kind of dark energy she would assume, “I see. May I say goodbye to Loki before I leave?” “Of course. I will be waiting at my throne for when you are ready.” “I thank you again, Allfather.” Luna opened the door to Loki’s room to find that he had not seemingly moved, being located on his bed with a book in hand. She smiled at him while she closed the door behind her, glad to see him again after the past few interesting hours. Loki glanced up at her and took in the fact that she was wearing armor, “You return after so long.” The fake humanoid gave a nervous laugh, hoping he did not mind too much about her detour, “I apologize. Fandral and Volstagg dragged me off to show my combat prowess off to some nobles.” That put things into perspective for Loki, who looked back to the book in his hand, “I see. He may be fierce, but I did not believe you would have needed that armor for Heimdall.” Luna sat down on the bed and tried to close the book, to which Loki pulled it away from her, “Loki, I am going to be returning to Equestria today.” He shut the book on his own, his voice troubled, “So soon?” Luna touched one of his hands and gave it a small squeeze, “I know, I am sorry,” she sighed as she thought about the ponies back in Equestria who would need her help after Loki’s invasion, “It’s just that they need me there. To help clean up after what happened. You understand, right?” Loki could not fault her for cleaning up after him, so he took her hand in his own and returned the squeeze, “Yes, I suppose I do. I am the one to blame after all.” “Please, be good while I am gone, okay Loki? I will return the moment I can,” Luna promised and warned both. He rolled his eyes, “I suppose I can,” he followed it up with a whisper in her ear, “Care to give me some incentive?” Luna blushed and locked the door with her telekinesis. “Well, I do not remember your father giving me a time limit on the offer to go back home. I suppose I have some time.” Celestia was sitting in bed mewling over some clean up documents for Canterlot when a hoof knocking on her door caught her attention. The mannerism of the knock was quite familiar to the long lived Alicorn, who knew instantly who it was. “Luna?” Celestia turned from her bed to see the large and dark form of her sister standing there, a smile on her black furred muzzle. “It is good to see you again sister.” Ignoring the form Luna was in, she instead leapt to her hooves to go embrace her sister, “How are you?” she tried to keep any sniffling out of her voice as she hugged Luna tightly, “Nopony knew what happened to you. We feared the worst…” Luna returned the embrace, glad to be at her sister’s height for once, “I have been just fine. It’s kind of a long story to be honest.” Celestia pulled back and gave her dear sister a warm smile, her own eyes watering slightly, “I have time.” The white furred sister nodded over to her bed for Nightmare Moon to come join her there, which Luna gracefully obliged to. The Allfather was quite right about inter-realm transportation, it did take something out of you…not that she had much energy to begin with. Luna let out a long yawn as she lay down on Celestia’s oversized bed, boredly poking a tea pot by it, “To set the record straight for you, Loki was under the control of some unknown force, one that his people are now tracking down.” Celestia lay down beside her, feeling tired herself and not having the luxury of healing magic to heal the wounds sustained recently. She levitated the tea away from Luna and instead poured two glasses of it for them, giving one to her tired sibling and bringing one to her own lips, “I see. Is he well?” “Mentally, no, but he is recovering,” Luna took a sip of her tea and resisted the urge to spit it out. She and Celestia had very different tastes when it came to most things, and the tea was definitely not to the night sister’s liking, “He had left Equestria to go conquer another planet under their orders, but some of the realm’s inhabitants and I managed to put an end to the scheme.” Luna fully expected to hear protective big sister Celestia pipe up then, telling her that Loki is a bad influence and that she should not associate with him and just leave him to his own misery. Instead, she got the following, “Luna, I am not about to tell you where to place your emotions. I know full well what a second chance can result in, as shown both by yourself and Discord. I will afford Loki the opportunity to bring himself back to my graces, should he wish to.” Luna put her terrible tea down and rolled over to hug her sister again, “Thank you.” Celestia chuckled as she rubbed Luna’s back, “The way you were walking gives me the feeling that all is well between you two. If you can forgive him, I am sure I will have no problem doing so.” One topic down, and many to go. Luna let her tired eyes close as she embraced Celestia, “How are the others?” “Twilight has been helping me handle the administrative nightmare that resulted from yet another invasion. She is a little shaken up about it, but has not talked about why yet with me. I have decided to give her space on the matter, but if she continues to be unnerved I will speak to her more directly,” Luna could tell even without looking that Celestia was frowning because her protégé-substitute daughter-thing was feeling bad and was not talking to her about it. Celestia sighed and shook her head to clear her thoughts, “The other former element bearers are doing well. No permanent injuries, and they are all returning to everyday life quite well.” “And Discord?” Luna playfully inquired. Celestia, for the first time, realized that it was now a bit awkward that she was cuddling with Luna like they were still fillies. Given, after all, who else usually spent their time in the bed, “He is fine, except for his wounded ego. He can be so childish, especially when he’s not on top.” Luna found much amusement out of her sister’s words, “Loki is more fine with not being on top, so long as it’s someone he wants there.” Even Celestia could tell that the conversation had two levels to it, and she smiled at how they did not even have to alter what they were saying to make it that way, “I suppose Discord will just have to learn his place, even if his ego is bruised by it.” Caring to move past that particular subject with her sister, Luna decided to bring up another subject to replace it, “I met Loki’s family after we brought him to justice.” Celestia was genuinely interested in whatever Luna had to report, for these might be her in-laws in the future, “Oh? How did that go?” Luna bit her lip as she tried to think of a word for what she went through. After all, she had never had to meet a family like this before, “Well? His mother and father seem to like me. They also desire Loki and I to marry.” Celestia took another sip from her tea while she prodded Luna to go on, “Did they not care about the species gap?” “Not at all, given that I am a long lived shapeshifter. He won’t be outliving me, and I can take their form on a whim.” “You two must enjoy your shared shapeshifting greatly,” Luna’s face went red under her fur, for she knew Celestia was purposefully teasing her and not just making an innocent observation, “Speaking of form, I see that you have returned to…that.” Luna had begun to forget all about the Nightmare Moon change, having spent a great deal of her life in this body and having just gotten back into the hang of how it feels, “A necessary power boost to confront Loki while he had you under his thrall and Discord defeated.” Celestia nodded but rose the brow not covered by her flowing hair, “Can you not resume your original form now?” The princess of night shook her head no, “Transporting between worlds seems to have made this change permanent, although Loki will be looking into finding a cure I believe.” It crossed Luna’s mind that she had not taken her trip to the Asgardian doctor’s office…or said goodbye to Thor…or Frigga… That moment she decided that next time she departed from Asgard she would not spend the entirety of an afternoon with Loki to scramble her mind before going. He had that effect. Celestia honestly did not care too much about the particular form her sister took so long as she was okay, but that did not mean that their subjects would be so open minded, “I only fear that your appearance may startle some of our subjects.” Luna on the other hand had absolutely no care as to how others would look at her. She had tried turning into any other pony form in her spare time to no avail, and so if they were going to be ungrateful whelps then let them be, “I as well, but they will have to deal with it for now. My equine form is locked in this appearance.” The elder sister prodded the younger one’s head with her own, taking care to not hit her with her horn, “As long as you do not return to your previous reason for taking it, I see no reason why a change must be made. It is about time that our subjects learned that they need not fear you, no matter your appearance.” Celestia was not the only one glad that her sister was okay. Luna was trying her best to not cry either. “I am glad you are okay, Tia.” Celestia could not help but smile at her sister’s words, for they were from her unguarded and tired mind. As close to as from the heart as they could come. The elder sister let out a breath and whispered softly to Luna, “This may be asking a lot, but I need you here for now. There is still much work to do. Things to catch up on.” “Tomorrow…” Celestia smiled. She could allow her exhausted sibling that much. “If you wish, then of course, Luna. Goodnight.”